PART I JANUARY / FEBRUARY ‘14
UNLOCKING COFFEE’S CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
BY JOSEPH A. RIVERA, DIRECTOR OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Everyday millions of people around the
world begin their day religiously with a
morning cup of coffee. Though today we
COFFEE SCIENCE
can easily identify coffee in its beverage
form, it wasn’t always this way in the be-
ginning. Throughout history, coffee has
taken on several physical transformations,
initially serving as an energy source when
nomadic tribes combined coffee berries
with animal fat as an early form of an en-
ergy bar. Later it was consumed as a tea,
then a wine, and finally to the beverage
we’ve come to appreciate today. But how
much of coffee’s chemical composition do
we actually know? Over the past half cen-
tury scientists have made significant pro-
gress which has allowed them to unlock
the nearly 1,000 compounds found in
roasted coffee.
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In this issue of Coffee Science we’ll briefly
discuss a family of compounds called
‘alkaloids’ which serve an important role
in coffee’s unique chemical composition.
CAFFEINE
For many, drinking coffee is simply a de-
livery medium for a potent alkaloid we
have come to identify as caffeine or other-
wise known as 1,3,7 – trimethylxanthine.
Although caffeine is typically associated
with coffee, its production within the
plant kingdom spans across numerous
other species. Mate, for example, which is
traditionally consumed in parts of Uru-
guay and Argentina, contains less than one
percent by weight. Whereas, teas of Ca-
mellia sinesis species which originated
from China contain almost 3x times the
concentration of caffeine than coffee.
But for humans caffeine is very unique.
Thus far we are the only living forms on
Earth that readily seek caffeine for both its
stimulatory and physiological effects. For

all other life forms, caffeine is a potent
toxin capable of sterilization, phytotoxicity
and antifungal properties. As such scien-
tists believe that caffeine, with its intensely
bitter taste, has evolved as a primitive de-
fense mechanism in coffee ensuring its sur-
vival in the wild for thousands of years. It’s
no surprise then, that the caffeine content
of the more “robust” Robusta species is al-
most double that of the more delicate Ara-
bica. The belief is that as insects attack the
coffee cherry, they are deterred by the bit-
ter taste of caffeine and simply move on to
other crops.
COFFEE SCIENCE
TRIGONELLINE
Another less known alkaloid that shadows
in the light of caffeine is that of trigonelline.
CAFFEINE CONTENT IN VARIOUS PLANTS
Plant Country of Origin
Coffee bean
Coffea Arabica
Coffea Robusta
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Tea
Camellia Sinesis
Mate Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina
Page 2
In Arabica coffee, trigonelline concentra-
tions make up roughly 1% by weight with
a slightly less concentration (0.7%) found
its Robusta counterpart. Although its con-
centration is slightly less than that of caf-
feine, it plays a significant role in the de-
velopment of important flavor compounds
during roasting. But unlike caffeine which
survives the roasting process, trigonelline
readily decomposes as temperatures ap-
proach 160oC (320oF). Model studies have
shown that at 160oC, sixty percent of the
initial trigonelline is decomposed, leading
for the formation of carbon dioxide, water
and the development of a large class of
aromatic compounds called pyridines.
These heterocyclic compounds play an
important role in flavor and are responsi-
ble the sweet/caramel/earthy-like aromas
commonly found in coffee.
Caffeine Content (% wt)
Ethiopia ~ 1.2%
Arabia ~2.2%
China ~3.5%
less than 0.7%
 Page 3

Another important byproduct produced
during the decomposition of trigonelline is
nicotinic acid, or vitamin B3 - more com-
monly known as niacin. Depending on
roasting conditions niacin can increase up
to ten times its initial concentration, pro-
viding anywhere between 1mg of niacin
per cup for Americano coffees and roughly
two to three times this concentration in
espresso type beverages. When one con-
siders that most Americans consume about
3.2 cups of coffee per day according to the
NCA – it makes coffee an ample source of
dietary niacin.
COFFEE SCIENCE
So far that’s great news for people with an
unbalanced diet but there is another thera-
peutic benefit to coffee that is even more
surprising. Recently Italian scientists dis-
covered that drinking coffee may lower our
incidence of dental caries. According to re-
searchers trigonelline works by preventing
the adhesion of mucus-like acid byproducts
onto teeth which would otherwise lead to
dental deterioration.
In the end, it looks like drinking a cup of
coffee may not only keeps the doctor away,
but the dentist too.

Joseph A. Rivera holds a degree in food chemistry and was formerly the Director of Science & Technol-
ogy at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). He’s the founder/creator of science portal
coffeechemistry.com and the Coffee Science Certificate (CSC) program. He can be reached at
jrivera@coffeechemistry.com

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